Master of Disaster
by universalworst
Summary: Kuzuryuu experiences a fleeting moment of lucidity in the depths of despair.


Debris litters the street. It makes your path perilous as you sprint through the ruined city. You hurtle over a smashed television, around a sedan with the windows broken, faster than you ever thought you could. You feel chased. Hunted. Adrenaline carries you, and you fly.

Around a sharp corner, the scenery changes. Wrecked cars and furniture are replaced by corpses, bloody and bloated, carpeted by thousands of flies. You don't stop. Blood pumps through your head, your thundering heartbeat eerily audible as you scramble past bodies stacked haphazardly on top of one another like stinking sacks of flour.

You don't know where you're going.  
You don't stop.

 _What did you do?_

This is a nightmare, a horrible moment of lucidity within a fever dream. Wake up. Wake up. **WAKE UP!**

You trip and crash into the pavement hands first. The skin on your palms is all shaven away, the intensity of your pulse amplifying the pain and the bleeding.

A nightmare.

You pant, sweat rolling down your forehead and back. What happened? You tremble uncontrollably. What happened? It's hard to breathe or think straight surrounded by this stink. Your eyes begin to water as you choke out a gasp, then a wail.

"Peko!"

Your screaming is hoarse and cracked. Your lungs beg for more rest, but you can't oblige. Gripped with blind panic again, you struggle to your feet and yell again. You yell for help. You yell to be saved.

"Peko! ...PEKO!"

She's the only one you can call for. Everyone else is dead.

"Master."

You whip around. How did she get here so fast? She seems not to be bothered by the smell, standing calmly with one hand on the hilt of her katana. She's like a panther, sleek and graceful and deadly. But she's Peko. You know her. You trust her. You need her right now. You reach out with bloody, shaky hands and grab her arms, phlegm stopping your voice as you try to speak.

Peko raises an eyebrow.

"What…" You finally wheeze a few words. "What did we… do…"

It's not a question.

The corner of Peko's mouth twitches up. She says nothing. It's terrifying.

"Peko, look at me! Look! _LOOK!_ "

Why are you saying that? She's staring right at you.

" _ **PEKO!**_ "

She keeps staring.

Your eyes burn as tears finally begin to fall. You fall with them, knees hitting the concrete as you hug yourself, staining the sleeves of your filthy shirt crimson.

"WHAT DID WE DO?" Spittle flies from your mouth as everything floods back. Masked drones grin. A katana gleams red. Maggots wriggle in the entrance wound at the front of a man's skull feet only away from you. " **FUCK!** _ **WHAT DID WE DO?!**_ "

The man's shriveled face grins back at you. To your right, Peko emits a soft giggle.

"SHUT UP! **SHUT UP!** "

What did you do?  
 _What did you do?_

You stand up and rush at her. You have to make her stop. You have to…  
Your hands…  
Why…?  
What are you doing?

You have Peko up against the brick wall of the alley, squeezing her throat with all your strength. She's passive, that tiny smirk still on her face when your vision washes out again.

What are you doing?  
 _What are you doing?_

" _Peko…_ " you hiss. "What are you doing? Make me stop… _Why aren't you making me stop…?_ "

You can feel her swallow under your grip, but she makes no attempt at replying.

You raise your voice, shouting through sobs. "MAKE ME STOP! PEKO! **YOU HAVE TO STOP ME!** "

All the response you get is the feeling of her chin grazing over your hands as she shakes her head ' _no_.'

"You HAVE TO! I'm _**ORDERING YOU!**_ "

You hear a quiet, choked gag. Through the tears, you can see the color of her face change.

"Peko… _Please…_ "

Nothing. Your resolve weakens. Your grip loosens and your hands shake.

You hear a wheeze when you force yourself away; a wheeze followed by coughs and desperate gasps for air. You look at your bloody hands for a long moment, too stunned to cry. _What did you do?_

Another cough, then she whispers, "Thank you, Master."

"Shut your FUCKING MOUTH!"

Your fist is moving before you have time to register what you're doing. All you can do is connect with the wall instead of her face. You heave, gasping for air as you let your fist fall back to your side. _Fuck_ , it hurts... Violent… _You're so violent…_

Your breathing becomes quicker. What… did you _do_? What did you just do?!

Peko…

 _What did you do?!_

Hyperventilating, frantic, you wish you had more hair to tug on. The world spins out of focus. You can't see Peko anymore.

You have to get out of this alley.  
Which way is out?  
Your throat aches. You're already screaming when, disoriented, you stumble against a stack of bodies.  
You keep screaming.  
 _Which way is out?_

You killed them. You killed them all.

This is too much. You crawl on your aching hands and knees toward the exit of the alleyway. Peko walks beside you, strolling at a leisurely pace as if entirely unaffected by the incident moments ago. You try to move faster. You grab her arm and she pulls you up to your feet and you stagger onwards. You have to escape something… _Something…_

 _What's this feeling? Where are you going?_

A massive screen high above the city streets flickers to life. So do countless others in cities and towns across the country. "Attention! Attention!"

Startled, you look to the screen. A familiar black and white teddy bear greets you with an awful smile.

"It appears we have our first victim!"

The image of a young girl in a shower stall flickers onto the screen. Her face is like a doll's. She's dead. Blood stains her sailor top and skirt, and it's dried at the corner of her mouth.

You clench your fists, ignoring how much it hurts.

You fight it.

"Upupupu! Poor Maizono Sayaka-chan! Who could have done this? Surely none of the shining stars of Hope would have done something so brutal!"

The image of the bear returns, plush hands raised coquettishly to its mouth. "Don't worry! This is a spoiler-free zone, so we won't broadcast footage of the murder until after the Class Trial! It's a whodunit for everyone! Upupu…!"

As the broadcast goes on standby, you hear yourself shouting at the screen. "Fuck you! FUCK you, you **EVIL BITCH**!"

You fight it. You really do. But how could you ever live with yourself if not through succumbing?

 _It hurts so much…_

You smile through your tears, smearing blood down your cheeks as you wipe your eyes and grin at Peko. It's terrible… I _t's so terrible…_ All you can do is laugh.

It caught you.

 _What disastrous despair…_


End file.
